Espionage Act

In August 1914, World War I erupted, engulfing the nations of Europe and other parts of the world in a protracted, bloody conflict that would ultimately claim the lives of ten million civilians and nearly ten million service personnel. In the early years of the war, President Woodrow Wilson attempted to maintain US neutrality, and most Americans had little appetite for war. Wilson, however, also wanted to broker a peace, but because his views were supported neither by the Western Allies nor the Central Powers, he knew that he would be able to implement a peace plan—a plan he proposed in early 1918 as the “Fourteen Points”—only if the United States was one of the belligerents.

The casus belli for the US entry into the war was the sinking of the passenger liner Lusitania by a German U-boat on May 7, 1915, resulting in the deaths of 128 Americans, and the subsequent resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany. A further development that shattered any hope for peace was the so-called Zimmerman telegram. In early 1917, British intelligence intercepted a secret German communication to Mexico, in which German foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann promised that in exchange for Mexican assistance in the war, territories in the American Southwest would be ceded to Mexico in the event of a German victory. In light of these events, on April 2, 1917, Wilson asked a joint session of Congress for a declaration of war. In the address he famously called for the war “to make the world safe for democracy.”

In 1917, the United States was unprepared for war, both materially and psychologically. One of the chief challenges the Wilson administration faced was mobilizing the nation and persuading Americans that war was necessary and just. To that end, the administration created the Committee for Public Information, also called the Creel committee after its chairman, George Creel. The committee enlisted numerous artists, writers, Hollywood producers, and others to produce pamphlets, posters, and movies promoting patriotism and depicting Germans as savage aggressors—that is, to create propaganda. Artist James Montgomery Flagg created the classic image of Uncle Sam pointing at the viewer and declaring, “I Want You.” Wilson called for “Wheatless Mondays” and “Meatless Tuesdays” to conserve food supplies for the troops. Boy Scouts planted backyard vegetable gardens. Homemakers became so successful in using leftover food and other items that the volume of trash in Chicago dropped by a third. The propaganda campaign was successful, for within a year, most Americans idealistically supported the president and his policies.

Most, but not all, backed the president. Numerous groups, including anarchists, Marxists, women's organizations, Christian pacifists, Irish nationalists, Russian immigrants, and others openly opposed US entry into the war. Many people believed that the war was fought not to defend the ideals of democracy but rather to line the pockets of capitalists and war profiteers. Among prominent Americans who were outspoken critics of the war were industrialist Henry Ford, social reformer Jane Addams, and women's suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt. Even the poet E. E. Cummings, who was serving as an ambulance driver in France, was arrested and held by French authorities on suspicion of espionage in large part because of letters he wrote openly expressing antiwar views.

Also relevant to the context surrounding the Espionage and Sedition Acts was the fear of immigrants that pervaded the nation. From 1900 to 1915, some fifteen million immigrants arrived in the United States. Unlike most nineteenth-century immigrants, most of those who arrived after 1900 were from southern and eastern Europe, especially Poland, Italy, and Russia. To many Americans, these immigrants, with their strange customs and dress, were vaguely threatening. Many believed that eastern European Jews and Slavic people were Bolsheviks and anarchists and therefore a threat to American security during the war.

It was against this backdrop that Wilson called on Congress to pass legislation to silence opponents of the war. The result came in the form of the Espionage and Sedition Acts.